Saltwater sport fishing typically consists of placing anglers on boats to reach productive offshore fishing grounds. Sport fishing targets popular saltwater species including striped bass, dolphin, tuna, blue and black marlin, sailfish, grouper, wahoo, and tarpon. A productive method of catching the fish involves a technique known as trolling wherein the angler drags baited hooks approximately thirty yards behind the stern of a slow moving boat. Trolling is the favored method for saltwater big-game fishing which generally requires a boat and equipment capable of withstanding heavy seas and large fish. To increase the chance of hooking a fish, it is an important consideration to have as many lines in the water as possible. In general, the wake of the boat appears, to a gamefish, as a large school of smaller fish. With a multitude of baited lines, the fisherman can strategically simulate bands of straggling or displaced fish from the school. These stragglers are the weaker fish that gamefish typically prey upon.
Hence, the fisherman would ideally like to drag as many lines as possible behind the boat to increase the chances of a strike. However, the more lines that are used, the more the chance of the lines becoming tangled with each other. This is particularly true of a narrow beam boat or when the boat is being turned. As a result, sport fishing outriggers have been developed to assist in keeping the various lines separated.
An outrigger consists of a long boom, or pole, which is attached to the boat in various manners and is deployed to extend laterally outwards from the boat. Baited fishing lines, with release clips, are attached to the outriggers and thereby provide enough separation between the lines to prevent tangling. When a fish strikes the bait, the line clip releases from the outrigger and the fisherman reels in the fish.
By law (and practicality), outriggers must be freely stowable to a folded position along-side the boat for close water operation and docking. For practical operation, the outrigger must necessarily be swung laterally outward to its deployed position. The prior art, not necessarily patented, but used for many years in the field, includes all types of mounting schemes including outrigger units for horizontal and vertical mounting, on center consoles, flybridges, half towers, tuna towers, radar arches, and/or T-tops. Prior patents disclose a variety of methods for mounting, deploying, and locking into place such outriggers (see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,724,791; 4,384,542; 4,993,346; 5,140,928; 5,191,852; 5,243,927; and 5,245,780), with each having distinct drawbacks. Such drawbacks include overall mechanical complexity; powered operation; non-durable metal-on-metal construction; and/or ineffective position adjustment and locking mechanisms which slip and/or wear out, especially due to metal-on-metal construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,791 discloses a pivotally mounted bracket with a tubular socket, wherein the device is locked into place via a spring-loaded metal indexing pin which penetrates holes in metal disc portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,542 discloses a complex system of brackets with collapsible support members and a slidable connection for achieving pivotal movement of the tubular member about multiple axes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,346 discloses an outrigger device extending through a T-top, in a manner commonly practiced by fishermen using outriggers on boats with a T-top weldment. The disclosed outrigger rotates via metal-on-metal construction which causes corrosion and galling of the aluminum parts. The device also discloses, for rotating and locking the device into place, a locking means consisting of a metal compression ring which clamps down upon a metal tubular member via a camming action. A problem with this teaching is the metal-on-metal construction which results in galling and corrosion, which eventually results in seizure of the components. Alternatively, this locking means includes a spring-loaded metal pin which penetrates holes drilled in the tubular member. In either event, the metal-on-metal construction (especially with dissimilar metals such as stainless steel and aluminum) will eventually lead to stretching and widening of the penetrated holes, thus rendering the locking device useless for its intended purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,928 discloses a complex electro-hydraulic mechanism with a helm-mounted joystick control system for independent movement of each outrigger boom.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,852 discloses a tubular outrigger device which is locked into place via sliding movement of a collar along an elongated tube, with a levered cam member for controlling compression of the slidable collar.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,927 discloses a tubular housing with a hydraulically driven piston for positioning the attached outrigger.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,780 discloses an outrigger with variable length strut members to change the position of the outrigger device.
While the prior art discloses a wide variety of mechanisms and mounting locations, the prior art fails to disclose or teach a simple, yet durable, outrigger with an effective locking means. This is particularly true in light of the excessive movement experienced by an extended outrigger in operation. A 10-30 foot boom will be affected by both wind and movement of the boat which causes incessant back-and-forth stresses at the outrigger's mount. In general, the longer the boom, the higher the stresses at the mount. The stresses from such tenacious movement will undoubtedly cause excessive wear on a poorly designed mount, often to the point of failure. If the position adjustment and locking mechanism were to fail, the outrigger might freely swing out during a critical maneuver or operation, with possibly disastrous or life-threatening effects to passengers on board the outrigger equipped boat or surrounding vessels.
Hence, the metal-on-metal devices disclosed thus far produce excessive wear and galling of the aluminum parts. This galling will resulting in a black oxidation which soils surrounding parts of the boat when the outrigger is washed down. To reduce the friction caused by such contact, a lubricant can be used between the metals. However, with the '346 disclosure in particular, such lubrication would work against the compressed ring holding friction necessary for locking the outrigger in place.
Accordingly, an outrigger device with a position adjustment and locking mechanism are needed which avoids these various problems and provides a durable, effective construction which can tolerate the high demands of marine conditions and the rigors of sport fishing.